Earlier, the Bill was sent to the President for final approval. It was returned to the state with proposed amendments. The state government again sent the Bill to the Centre in September 2015 after incorporating the proposed amendments. However, despite several reminders, the Bill has not been sent to the state.

A senior UDH official said, "A proposal has been sent to the CMO which will be forwarded to the Union minister requesting release the Bill after granting permission. If the Bill was sent earlier in September, it would have been tabled in this assembly session."

Residential apartments in the recent past have increased at an exponential rate with over 20,000 units under construction in the state capital itself. In the absence of any policy framework, the builders were violating norms and duping a large number of customers.

As the wait grows, the residents staying in apartments are back to square one in absence of their rights. The state cabinet in February 2015 paved the way for the Bill which was sent for the final approval.

If it was implemented as legislation, every apartment in any building constructed or a structure converted into an apartment before or after the commencement of the Bill would have fallen under its ambit.

As per the proposed regulations, a builder will have to furnish a written commitment to pay a requisite penalty in case of missing the deadline in the proposed project. At the time of booking of an apartment, developers will declare the penalty for delay in completion or handing over the possession.

A UDH official informed, the process to enact the bill is moving slow as the Centre has proposed to remove a few clauses from the Bill. The housing and poverty alleviation ministry and the rural development ministry's department of land resources have raised objections to the Bill.

The housing and poverty alleviation ministry had proposed some amendments in the apartment ownership provision. Also, the right of developers should be abolished after construction of the apartment. It was highlighted that ministry would soon introduce a Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, which once enacted, would reduce the scope of apartment ownership bill.

The official said, "The ministry had also asked to remove the clauses 6, 11(1), and 11(2) as the same clauses are mentioned in the real estate bill and so there could be a conflict." The department of land resources had mentioned that there is a need for amendments in the Registration Act 1908.

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The draft allows district-level authorities, headed by the district magistrate, to seek exemption from public hearing while granting green clearance for sand mining in areas up to five hectares of land.

The court said it is the obligation of the government to protect its citizens who belong to middle class family and invested their hard earned money in buying flats but got cheated by builders and facing uncertainty.